In an unsurprising move, the USBCHA board of directors agreed to accept a grant of approximately $20,000 from the 2007 Gettysburg Finals local committee, money to be held in trust and given to the local committee that manages the next Finals east of the Mississippi. Here are the particulars, as posted on USBCHA site July 18 by Francis:

The B/D will vote on receiving the excess monies from the 2007 National Finals (approximately $20,000) with the following conditions: Richard Williams motioned, the USBCHA must earmark the money in a separate account (possibly a CD). The money can only be used to fund a National Finals that will be held East of the Mississippi (which could include Eastern Canada). The money will be dispersed in total to the next local committee awarded the bid to host that finals. The award of this money will not effect other monies normally provided by the USBCHA to a national finals local committee. The availability of money will be advertised in order that potential local committees considering bidding for the finals may properly consider receipt of these funds in their financial projections, seconded by Dean Holcomb. Motion passed

The following motion was passed on March 31 by the USBCHA Board of Directors:

Dean Holcomb motioned to delete the sentence in Cowdog Rules , Section 22, 4-C, which reads: points will not be awarded until the cattle have daylited the outer ends of either the left or right obstacle, seconded by Wilda Bahr. Motion passed.

Also in the USBCHA news is a motion to clarify the wording of section 5-L of the Bylaws, which currently reads as follows:

Section 5 – L: Eligibility to run in the USBCHA Open and Nursery Sheepdog Finals is limited to citizens of the United States and/or Canada, and to non-citizens who have been physically present in the United States and /or Canada for at least nine months of the qualifying year for the Finals they seek to enter, and who have not run in the National sheepdog or Cattledog trial of any other country during the same calendar year as the Finals they seek to enter.

Jimmy Walker motioned for rule change to Section 5-L add the wording "other than the USBCHA National Finals and the CBCA Canadian National Championships" to rule L, seconded by Wilda Bahr. The intent of this motion is to bring the wording of a fairly new rule into line with what we have always done by running in both the Canadian and U.S. championships. Discussion of this motion will stay open for a minimum of one week.

This one seems like another no-brainer to me: clearly the rule was intended to apply to national finals in countries other than those in North America. As I’m constantly told by my Canadian friends, Canada is an actual country, not just a really big U.S. state north of New England!

It’s time to think about nominating judges for the 2008 National Finals, slated for Sturgis, South Dakota from September 9th through the 14th. Fill out this form and tell the committee where your nominee has judged, whether he or she has judged a double lift, whether he or she is familiar with the USBCHA judging guidelines, and in general why you feel that he or she would do a good job. Think about it carefully–choosing judges for the National Finals is an important decision, and as many HA members as possible should participate in the process.

1. At the National Finals there will always be water available on the field so the dogs can cool themselves and that handlers are allowed to direct their dogs to the water and the dogs may use the water with no points penalty. Handlers may not leave the post to go to the water with their dog. If the handler is on the way to or in the shedding ring or on the way to the pen they may detour to the water. The clock will not be stopped. Handler and dog are still being judged on the actions of the stock and anything that the stock do may cause a loss of points or if the stock leave the trial area disqualification. The HA recommends that all HA sanctioned trials adopt this rule.

2. Any judge that feels that a dog is not capable of continuing with his run because he is showing signs of stress should disqualify that dog and handler. This would include over heating, lameness or demonstrated inability to do the work required.

Whether or not to post any motion that has been moved and seconded by the Board (and is thus currently under discussion) to the USBCHA web site for at least one week prior to the Board’s vote for member input.

Whether or not to uphold a current USBCHA policy that allows dogs running in the National Finals asked by the judge to retire because of overheating or physical unfitness to keep the points they had earned up to that point in the run

Whether or not to make it mandatory to have water on the field of the National Finals at all times for the competing dogs who might need to cool off during a run.

There’s been a bit of talk about these issues in various corners of the Internet, but nothing’s been very hot and heavy. And, in my opinion, that’s not because USBCHA members are apathetic; it’s because these issues are pretty much no-brainers. Everyone I’ve listened to seems to agree on the following:

It should have gone without saying that the Board should let the membership know about issues that are being voted on in time to let them give input to their Directors if they should choose to do so. Since it apparently didn’t go without saying, it’s hard to find anyone who could disapprove of the suggestion.

It’s a NATIONAL FINALS! Dogs who can’t finish the course should not potentially advance to the next level of competition. If handlers are too focused on their run (or too stupid, or too uncaring, or all three), a judge might need to step in and make the "thank you" call. If he or she does that, it’s a retire–no points should be forthcoming.

Water should be available at all times on the field, to help any dogs that might need to cool off during a run. Dogs who go to water will be penalized by the clock, but not by the act of going to the water itself. (I presume if the dog’s sheep leave the field while the dog is in the tub, that team is just out of luck, but that might be a question for the Board to clarify.) And the presence of the water should be MANDATORY on the Finals field to prevent any head-scratchers from occurring during the competition–we want as much consistency as possible for all teams at all times.